rebel stripes

During high school and most of college, I drove a used Dodge Neon, black with sliver racing stripes. A true rebel. I'm pretty sure carting me around to my various and mundane activities was only his day job.

Just to show you how awesome this car truly was, here is the front cover of the owner's manual. Check out that awesome teal ...


I've always wanted to find a secret key to an overgrown garden or step through a closet and find a parallel universe (both of which have been done already... darn). But the Neon brought me a chance.

One cold day, while looking through the tattered owner's manual for the correct PSI for the tires, or something of the like, I discovered a hidden gem... the notes section.

I couldn't believe it. My own personal Soap Opera unfolding right there in my own glove box. And a mystery to boot! Questions swirled... who was "Shawn" and who was our mysterious author? Would they ever be together? Could her "guards" ever be let down?!?

I would never know! How could I ever find out? It was all lost to the cosmos...

To be continued...

your thoughts appreciated

Thank you to all who added their thoughts to my previous post. I must say they were much appreciated. And I think you all know how much I love a good conversation!

May I write freely for a moment?

I've been thinking a lot (as of late) about my journey through my short-stack o' years, and I've been beating myself up. I've made many mistakes. Most of them involving the neglect of friends, family, or myself. I guess I should put it this way: in an misguided effort to improve relationships, I neglected them, giving myself irrational justification for doing so. This arises, I believe, from a faulty degree of desired perfection. Perfection I demand in myself and consequently the world around me. So, my reasoning was as follows: if you can't be the perfect [insert friend, sibling, self] avoid that relationship until you can. If this all sounds ridiculous, it's because it is and I think I'm finally ready to acknowledge that fact. I don't think it will be easy to give up my steady regimen of "be perfect!" juice, but I'm sure going to try.

So I thank you for weighing in on my question and for your thoughts, all of which were insightful but more importantly, helpful.

And after this rare moment of introspection (for this blog):
...AND NOW, back to your regularly scheduled program.